Barnstaple; Saturday, 13 October, 2007

We set out from my friends house, with them driving, to explore North Devon. First stop was the cliff-tops above Saunton Sands. From here you can look down on a wide beach which runs from the base of the cliffs towards the mouth of the Estuary of the Taw. On a mild Octobers day, with good surf, the beach was heaving with surfers and body boarders. We spent some time watching them before moving off further along the coast, through the town of Croyde (a beautiful seaside town with a wide beach and golden sands, not to be confused with my home town of Croydon an ugly dump with wide buildings and golden skips!), and on to the town of Woolacombe.

If it were possible, Woolacombe was even more packed with surfers than Saunton Sands had been. Everywhere you looked there were people on their way to or from the beach, surf board in hand. The only reminder that you were in the UK and not Hawaii was the fact that all the surfers were dressed in full body wetsuits and those coming back from the water shivering slightly.

We stopped for a late lunch of Pasties (The Devonians are slowly appropriating all off the good cultural bits of the Cornish, whilst still actually being friendly to tourists!) and had a quick walk along the beach before heading back to Barnstaple.

Whilst my friends got on with things they had to do I had a look around the town centre. I had a good wander around through the little lanes and alley ways of the centre, stopping at the museum of Barnstaple and North Devon for a look around before taking in the Pannier market and Butchers row.

I wandered back down to the riverside in time to meet my friends and head back to theirs for dinner and a night in watching, despite everything, the English beating the French in the Rugby.